THE DEPENDENCE OF ELECTRON-TRANSFER EFFICIENCY ON THE CONFORMATIONAL ORDER IN ORGANIC MONOLAYERS

The electron transfer through an organized organic monolayer of alkyl chains adsorbed on a silicon wafer has been studied. The silicon was u sed as an electrode in a three-electrode electrochemical cell, and the current versus voltage response was measured. The results show that w hen the chains in the monolayer are in the ''all trans'' configuration , the charge transfer efficiency is higher than when the chains have a ''gauche'' configuration. A mechanism rationalizing all the observati ons is suggested.